Fashion Fight: Key to the Cure

It’s an inspiring night for an important cause: On Oct. 16, Saks Fifth Avenue Polaris will host a cocktail reception and celebration honoring cancer survivors. Proceeds from the $75-per-ticket event, along with a percentage of all store purchases for the rest of that weekend, will benefit the Heather Pick Spirit Fund at the Columbus Cancer Clinic. Established by late 10TV anchor Heather Pick, who publicly battled cancer until she died in 2008, the fund helps families in need as they battle cancer. The event coincides with Saks Fifth Avenue’s Friends & Family weekend, which runs Thursday through Sunday and offers shoppers 20 percent off of most items in the store.

Saks Fifth Avenue shoppers in Columbus and nationwide can also help by purchasing limited-edition Key to the Cure T-shirts, designed by Peter Dundas of Emilio Pucci and modeled here by actress Jennifer Aniston. Available Oct. 1, the shirts cost $35, and 100 percent of their proceeds benefit the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s Women’s Cancer Research Fund. Saks Fifth Avenue Marketing Director Carla Smith Jones says the cocktail reception is a touching way to kick off a big weekend. “I think people feel empowered to fight. They feel stronger if they are survivors working through it, or family members. And it gives a lot of people hope to push forward,” she says. “That’s why we get a host of cheers and applause and tears, because it draws that kind of energy out of people.”

Saks Fifth Avenue’s Key to the Cure event kicks off with a fashion celebration Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. and continues through the weekend. For tickets and more, visit SaksKeyToTheCure2013.Kintera.org.